Safety latching bottle closure



April-29, 1969. v L. TURNER 3,441, 159

SAFETY LATCHING BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed Sept. 21, 1967 7 Sheet of 2 i 7 l4 l6 I2 4' y/lb/f/ fL l5 I? il Q a VI INVENTQR LLOYD S.TURNER amt/4mm ATTORNEY A ril 29, 1969 L. s. TURNER I 3,

I SAFETY LATCHING BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed Sept. 21, 1967 Sheet 2 of z I llllllll INVENTOR LLOYD S. TURNER Ma. mam

ATTORNEY United States Patent ()fioe 3,441,159 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 US. Cl. 215-9 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Cam or ratcheting surfaces are positioned within a neck portion or top of a bottle. A safety cap for the bottle includes a vertically movable pawl for engaging the cam surfaces of the bottle to prevent the cap from being unscrewed. To unscrew the cap, the pawl is pressed downwardly out of engagement with the cam surfaces.

This invention relates to the storage of medicines, drugs and other potentially dangerous substances; and more particularly, this invention relates to a bottle or container, and a cap therefor, which may be latched or locked upon the bottle to prevent access thereto by small children.

Medicines, drugs and other potentially dangerous substances such as insecticides, weed killing chemicals, fungicides, harsh detergents and the like must occasionally be stored in a household. This creates a problem because the children must not gain access to such substances. Ordinarily, these substances are stored in a high place or medicine cabinets; but children have been known to climb on furniture or the like to gain access to the storage places. Therefore, it is desirable and necessary to provide further protection for preventing the medicine, drugs or other dangerous substances from actually coming into the hands of the small children. It is an object of this invention to provide an improved bottle and safety closure for medicines which will remain closed and locked in the hands of small children, but which may be opened by an adult having a special knowledge and having a manual dexterity which is superior to that of a small child.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved closure for a container wherein a cap contains a pawl normally engaging ratcheting teeth or cam surfaces positioned inside the neck of the container; to permit the cap to be turned in one direction only, to tighten but not to loosen the cap on the bottle; the pawl being movable vertically whereby pressure from above will move the pawl out of engagement with the ratcheting teeth to permit the cap to be unscrewed from the bottle.

A further object is to provide an improved safety cap for a bottle having a flexible top diaphragm or closure which may be depressed by a persons thumb or finger, and having a flexible pawl member closely underlying the diaphragm such that downward movement of the diaphragm will be transmitted to drive the pawl downwardly out of engagement with ratcheting surfaces whereby the thumb or finger pressure must be applied to the top diaphragm to permit the unscrewing of the cap from the bottle.

Numerous other objects and advantages will be apparent throughout the progress of the specification which follows. The accompanying drawings illustrate certain exemplary embodiments of the invention and the views therein are as follows:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section of a bottle with a safety cap thereon in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section of the safety cap for a bottle in a normal state with the pawl in a position to engage the ratcheting teeth of a bottle;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section of a cap similar to FIGURE 2 but with pressure applied to depress the diaphragm closure and the underlying pawl;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal section looking upwardly along the plane 4-4 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view with a part broken away to show the pawl assembled within the cap,

FIGURE 6 is a top view of a ring or collar which may be inserted into the opening of a bottle to provide the ratcheting teeth therein;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a sub-assembly including an integrally formed seal ring and pawl which may be inserted and attached within a bottle cap for conversion into a safety cap; and

FIGURES 8a and 8b are similar vertical sections of a bottle cap which has been converted into a safety cap by the addition of the ring and pawl assembly of FIGURE 7.

Briefly stated, in accordance with certain preferred embodiments of this invention, a safety closure for a bottle 11 includes a cap 12 having a generally cylindrical portion 13 and a flexible diaphragm 14 forming a top closure. The bottle 11 and cap 12 may contain mating threads 15. As shown in FIGURE 1, an insert ring or collar 16 may be placed within the bottle opening and may be permanently glued or set with an adhesive. The insert 16 provides inwardly extending ratcheting teeth 17. A pawl member 18 normally engages the teeth 17 to prevent the cap 12 from being unscrewed. When downward pressure is exerted in the center of the diaphragm 14, as indicated by an arrow 19, the diaphragm will deform downwardly, transmitting the downward movement to the flexible arm of the pawl 18 whereby the pawl will become disengaged from the ratcheting teeth to allow the cap 12 to be unscrewed from the bottle 11.

As shown in FIGURE 1 an insert ring 16 having cam surfaces or ratcheting teeth 17 is fastened with adhesive within the bottle opening. The insert ring shown generally in FIGURE 6 may be separately formed and then used to convert a non-safety bottle and cap into a safety closure device. In an alternative form of this invention, the bottle 11 may be molded with the ratcheting teeth 17 integral and a part of the bottle neck.

The flexible pawl 18 may be formed as a separate molded part as shown in FIGURE 5. In this case, an extended arm 21 of the pawl member may be formed with one or more holes 22; and the bottle cap 12 may be formed with downwardly extending studs 23 protruding from a peripheral part of the diaphram closure 14. The pawl 18 may thence easily be assembled within the cap 12 by forcing the studs 23 through the holes 22 as a pressed fit. After assembly, the pawl 18 rests between a pair of protruding shoulder parts or guide members 24 (best shown in FIGURE 4). The guiding shoulders 24 will not restrict movement of the pawl 18 in a vertical direction, but the pawl 18 will be held securely and will be prevented from moving or twisting laterally as the bottle cap is twisted on or attempted to be twisted ofif. Alternatively, the cap may be formed with an inner ring having a slot cut away to provide the spaced apart guiding shoulders 24.

As an alternative construction, the pawl 18 and the guiding shoulders 24 may be formed with a seal ring 25. Thus, the ring and pawl assembly may be molded separately as shown in FIGURE 7 and inserted into the non-safety bottle cap for conversion into a safety cap as shown in FIGURES 8a and 8b. In this case, the ring part 25 may be permanently attached to the bottle cap by a glue, adhesive, or serrated mating surfaces may be used to attach the ring 25 within the cap. Indeed, the seal ring 25 may be dimensioned for a pressed fit within the cap.

By the use of this invention a non-safety bottle and cap may be converted into a safety closure by the insertion of a ring 16 with ratcheting surfaces within the opening of the bottle 11 and by insertion of the ring structure 25 contaning the pawl 18 and shoulders 24 into the cap. Thus, a pharmacist may package certan medicines or drugs for hospitals or the like in ordinary bottles with non-safety caps, and may then package further drugs for private households having small children by the use of a conversion kit for the ordinary bottles and caps. The embodiment of FIGURE may also serve as a selective safety cap. In this case the pawl 18 may be inserted over the studs 23 within the cap 12 when a safety closure is desired and the pawl 18 may be omitted when a nonsafety closure is desired.

Changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A container and safety cap therefor, said container comprising a neck having external threads thereon, and ratcheting teeth positioned inside the neck, said cap comprising a cylindrical peripheral portion having internal threads for engaging the threads on the neck of the container, a flexible diaphragm formed integrally with the peripheral portion to provide a top closure, a pawl secured to the cap and positioned to underlie the flexible diaphragm, said pawl being engageable with the ratcheting teeth to permit rotation of the cap in one direction only whereby the cap may be tightened upon the container but may not be unscrewed therefrom, said pawl being movable downwardly by pressure transmitted by the flexible diaphragm whereby the pawl may be disengaged from the ratcheting teeth to permit the cap to be unscrewed.

2. A container and safety cap therefor in accordance with claim 1 wherein an insert collar is attached within the neck of the container, said insert collar being formed with the ratcheting teeth.

3. A container and safety cap therefor in accordance with claim 1 wherein a pair of downwardly extending spaced apart guide shoulders are positioned within the cap, said pawl being positioned between the guide members whereby the pawl is permitted to move vertically, and is prevented from moving laterally.

4. A container and safety cap therefor in accordance with claim 3 comprising a seal ring positioned within the cap, said seal ring being formed integrally with the pawl and with the guide members.

5. A container and safety cap therefor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the flexible diaphragm of the cap is convex upwardly above the peripheral portion of the cap and wherein the pawl extends across the cap in a bow closely underlying the flexible diaphragm.

6. A safety cap for a container comprising a cylindrical peripheral portion integrally formed with a flexible top closure diaphragm, a pawl member extending across the cap and underlying the top closure diaphragm whereby the pawl may be depressed by downward pressure against the diaphragm, said pawl member having one end attached to the cap and having a free end engageable with the container for preventing the cap from being unscrewed from the container, and spaced apart guide members positioned on opposite sides of the free end of the pawl member for guiding the free end of the pawl member in vertical movement from an upper position engaged with the container to a lower position disengaged from the container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner. 

